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Tough outing in Charlotte for Funny Car points leader Matt Hagan and team

Despite a rough weekend at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Matt Hagan and the Tony Stewart Racing team were able to hold onto their incoming points lead after the fifth race of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
02 May 2023
Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor
Feature

After wins at three of the four opening events of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season, Matt Hagan and the Tony Stewart Racing Funny Car team got a rude reminder of the fickle world of Funny Car racing at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte.

The incoming points leader was at the wheel of a special-edition Operation Healing Forces Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat when a parachute failure forced Hagan’s car into the track’s sand trap and protective netting in the first round of qualifying Friday. Hagan walked away unhurt, but his three-race winning mount was finished for the weekend.

The TSR crew, led by Dickie Venables, made the decision to pull out the 2022 Direct Connection Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for the remainder of the competition, and the car performed well in qualifying with a 3.866 run that placed them fourth in the 16-car lineup. 

Prior to Hagan’s opening round Sunday, a rainstorm hit the race facility and halted action for more than three hours, which left Hagan and his three competitors to face an all-new racing surface. Hagan left the starting line strong in that first round, but the car suffered tire shake. It was Hagan’s first opening-round loss of the 2023 season. 

Despite the first-round loss, Hagan remained the Funny Car points leader with a 58-point advantage over second-place Alexis DeJoria.

“We had a real, rough weekend,” said Hagan. “Putting it in the sand trap kind of set the tone for how our weekend went, and we had to pull out the spare car. We had one body for Operation Healing Forces and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, so it was tough to trash it. Sometimes things happen that are outside your control, as much as you try to prevent it. 

“We had some good runs in our spare car, and I was feeling good about it for race day. The track was a little better than we thought it was and missed the setup a little bit. The tires shook, and we pedaled the car, and it just wasn’t enough. This was an off weekend for our team, but we have to overcome adversity, and that’s what we do.”